€5,000 EPT Kyiv Main Event Day 1a | 2009 PokerStars.net EPT Kyiv

08-18-2009 14:57 UTC+3

That Durn Mattern

Shamus

Arnaud Mattern raised to 525 from early position, and the table folded around to Raoul Refos who called from the big blind.

The flop came {A-Hearts}

. Refos checked, Mattern continued with a bet of 1,050, and Refos called. The turn brought the {K-Hearts}

, and both players checked.

The river was the {3-Hearts}

. This time Refos bet 1,150, and Mattern quickly made the call. Refos showed {A-Spades}

, but Mattern's {6-Diamonds}

gave him trip treys and the pot.

Mattern is up to 44,000, while Refos is at about 27,000.

Tags: Arnaud Mattern Raoul Refos

08-18-2009 15:13 UTC+3

Pagano Straightens Out

[user66118]

Luca Pagano opened the pot with a raise to what looked like 600 from the cutoff seat. The button quickly put in the call, and both blinds came along to a four-handed flop.

It came out {10-Hearts}

, and the blinds checked to the raiser. Pagano fired another 1,400 chips at the pot, finding a call only from the player on the button. Heads-up now, the turn card was the {K-Hearts}

. Pagano passed this time, and his opponent laid out a small bet of 1,200 which he quickly called.

The last card off was the {3-Clubs}

, and Pagano checked again. His opponent checked behind this time, turning over {A-Spades}

. Pagano showed up {Q-Spades}

, his straight plenty good enough to win the pot. With that little chip-up, the Italian has moved up to 33,000.

Tags: Luca Pagano

08-18-2009 15:22 UTC+3

129 Players

Shamus

A total of 129 players ended up coming out for today's Day 1a. So far we've lost just four players, with the remaining 125 now assembled around 14 tables.

08-18-2009 15:51 UTC+3

We've been experiencing some connectivity issues for the last 45 minutes or so while trying to report from the Kyiv Sport Palace. Looks as though those issues have been resolved (for now, anyway). Fingers crossed!

Level: 4

Blinds: 150/300

Ante: 0

08-18-2009 16:09 UTC+3

Shlez Shliding

Shamus

Vadim Shlez is having some difficulty getting traction so far this afternoon. Just now he raised to 800 from middle position only to see the player to his left reraise to 2,500. The table folded back around to Shlez who with a weary smile let his hand go.

Shlez has 23,500 as we move toward the middle of Level 4.

Tags: Vadim Shlez

08-18-2009 16:16 UTC+3

Raises Work

[user66118]

Alex Kravchenko got into the pot with a raise from the cutoff seat, and he found two callers to come along. The three men all stared at each other as the dealer ran down a flop of {4-Clubs}

. The player in the blind checked, and Kravchenko tapped the table as well. With the action on the button, the player there fired 2,100 chips at the pot, enough to fold the first player. Kravchenko considered patiently though before check-raising to 6,100. His opponent wasted little time folding, sending the pot to the Russian pro.

Simultaneously on the adjacent table, we joined a hand in progress, heads up on the river. The board showed {7-Spades}

, and there were about 5,500 chips piled in the middle of the table. The middle-aged man first to act sloppily flicked out 2,800 chips in the direction of his opponent, Alex Fitzgerald. After letting out a little sigh, Fitzgerald grabbed raising chips and dropped 6,600 of them onto the felt in front of him. He too got a quick fold from his opponent, earning himself a nice little pot with no showdown.

08-18-2009 16:26 UTC+3

Di Giampietro Chipping Up

Shamus

Fabio Di Giampietro raised to 925 from middle position and got one caller sitting in the hijack seat. The flop came {A-Hearts}

. Di Giampietro quickly checked, and his opponent thought a moment before checking as well. The turn was the {3-Spades}

. This time Di Giampietro pushed out a bet of 1,800, and his opponent called.

The river brought the {4-Hearts}

. Di Giampietro quickly fired 3,000 and after a brief think his opponent looked him up. Di Giampietro turned over {A-Diamonds}

for aces, and his opponent mucked.

Di Giampietro is up to 48,500.

Tags: Fabio Di Giampietro

08-18-2009 16:37 UTC+3

Pagano Drops, Working Back

[user66118]

Whilst we were looking the other way, Luca Pagano found a way to drop more than half of his stack, moving down under 15,000.

A few hands later, he opened the pot to 800 from early position, and he found just one caller two seats over. Heads up then, the flop showed up {7-Spades}

, and Pagano continued out with a bet of 1,500. His opponent quickly raised to 4,000, and Pagano quickly moved all in for 12,475 total. His opponent hemmed and hawed and eventually let his cards go into the muck, helping Luca recover a little chunk of his losses. He's back up to 18,500 now.

Tags: Luca Pagano

08-18-2009 16:46 UTC+3

Mazunin Storms Ahead

Shamus

A rainstorm has begun outside, and the noise of the thunder is currently filling the Kyiv Sport Palace. We just saw an interesting multiway hand involving Mikhail Mazunin that looked as though it had the potential to turn especially stormy, too.

Three players limped, including Mazunin from the cutoff, then the small blind made a curiously small raise to 775. The big blind called, as did the other three players, so five saw the flop come {A-Hearts}

.

The small blind continued with a bet of 2,025, and both the big blind and a player in early position called. The next player folded, then Mazunin raised to 11,500. The blinds got out, and after some thought the EP player folded as well.

Mazunin moves up to 45,000 with that one.

Tags: Mikhail Mazunin